As consumers adapt to a global cost-of-living crisis in the face of economic and political volatility, and with budgets stretched and supplies under strain, brands must be flexible in action and open to connecting more with consumers, while also taking full advantage of rapidly emerging technologies.
This is the word from Innova Market Insights which has identified “Redefining Value” as its top F&B trend for 2023.
Innova’s annual Top Ten Trends are based on wide-ranging global consumer surveys. Coupled with comprehensive market and new product data, they reveal not only what is driving consumer decisions now but also ways in which brands and innovators can successfully adapt to future realities.
In addition to a heightened demand for competitive pricing, consumers have told Innova that they still seek nutritional value and expect a continued shared responsibility for environmental security. Meanwhile, younger generations who have grown up in an inclusive digital age are gaining greater influence, changing markets, and creating new opportunities.
Against that complex backdrop, Innova’s top trends anticipate how the F&B industry will shape up next year, here’s a look at the top five trends in brief. Stay tuned as we delve into each of these trends in upcoming issues.
Trend #1: Redefining Value
Over the last year, cost and value for money have become more important to more than half of F&B consumers worldwide. Today’s shoppers are increasingly exploring money-saving strategies, such as choosing lower-cost items and cooking from scratch.
However, consumers are still determined to sample new experiences, ensure personal wellbeing, and support planetary health. Therefore, there is more pressure on brands and manufacturers to deliver value while still meeting these wider public expectations.
Strategies such as simple price increases or flexible ingredient lists to cope with supply chain fluctuations can work in the short term. However, brands need to be open in their communication and clearly show the benefits they are bringing.
Trend #2: Affordable Nutrition
Over the past 12 months, Innova found that 62 percent of consumers have reported a noticeable rise in the cost of their food and beverages. As a result, they are turning their attention to simple but nutritious goods that are affordable.
Key behaviours include buying in bulk, opting for private labels, cooking from scratch, reducing spending on luxury items and purchasing fewer items. Consumers are actively looking for affordable ways to maintain a healthy diet, offering brands many opportunities to test their capabilities to new limits.
To meet the nutritional, environmental and economic demands of consumers, manufacturers must innovate to extract maximum value from raw materials and the production process.
Trend #3: Generational Push
Younger consumers, raised in an interactive and digital world, are creating trends and redefining what markets should provide. For Gen Z and Millennials, food and brand choices are important signifiers of lifestyle, beliefs, and values.
Younger consumer demographics have a strong voice and embrace the opportunity to share their views openly and widely. While health is an increasingly important purchase driver – as with older generations – novel and international flavours are winning the hearts of a young and experimental audience.
These consumers embrace what is new and different while being extremely responsive to positive brand engagement.
Trend #4: Unlocking a New Narrative in Plant-Based
The rapid rise of the plant-based sector has, almost inevitably, hit some roadblocks, necessitating a refocus around consumer demands for high-quality, flavourful products. No longer merely a mimic, green gastronomy will blossom as a standalone sector in 2023, giving brands significant opportunities to diversify and expand.
Consumers still want to see improvements in taste and texture, but there is a vast appetite for culinary creativity and worldwide flavour profiles. Two-thirds of Innova’s global survey respondents expressed a desire to try plant-based versions of traditional, local cuisines.
The industry is responding with a large increase in ready-meal offerings while there is great scope for expansion into meal kits and inventive recipe combinations. Interest in underused ingredients is also growing, creating opportunities to introduce variation in flavour and nutrition while simultaneously addressing supply concerns.
Trend #5: Farming the Future
Public curiosity for innovative technologies such as vertical and regenerative farming is increasing. As well as helping to maximise flavour, nutrition and yield, these advances can win consumer support where they are shown to improve the quality and sustainability of global food production.
Today’s consumer is increasingly invested in the source of food as it ties in with major global concerns of health, sustainability, and waste. The welfare of agricultural workers is equally important, with 65 percent of respondents to Innova’s surveys agreeing they would rather buy fruit and vegetables from farmer’s markets than large stores.
Essentially, brands need to demonstrate how novel production techniques are benefiting farmers, people, and the planet.
Further trends that Innova has highlighted include:
- Quick Quality
- Devouring Digital
- Revenge Spending
- Unpuzzle Health
- Positively Imperfect
